It is never too late to restore broken relationships

Sawyer tells the story of three generations of women shaped by an unsolved mystery

Mother-daughter relationships can be complicated. When secrets from the past are involved, the best of intentions can be entirely misunderstood. Bringing Maggie Home (WaterBrook/September 5, 2017/ISBN 978-0735290037/$14.99) by award-winning author Kim Vogel Sawyer explores the hearts of three generations of women whose lives have been shaped by the 70-year-old unsolved mystery of 3-year-old Maggie Blackwell.

Hazel DeFord was just 10 years old when her younger sister Maggie vanished while they were picking blackberries one afternoon. However, her guilt over the incident has shaped her entire life, particularly in her relationship with her daughter Diane. Hazel’s inexplicable eccentricities, unexplained overprotectiveness and constant paranoia drove a wedge between the two women.

When Diane became a parent, she was determined not to imitate the close hold her mother held on her. In fact, she gave her daughter, Meghan, such free rein that Meghan sometimes questioned whether her mother really loved her. Though neither woman had a good relationship with their own mother, Meghan has built a cherished relationship with her aging grandmother who lavishes her with attention and affection.

When a traffic accident forces Meghan to take a leave of absence from her job as a cold case investigator, the three women find themselves living under the same roof for the first time. In these close quarters, the painful secrets and hidden traumas of their past are exposed. Will Meghan be able to use her investigative prowess to solve what happened to Maggie, the family mystery that has been haunting Hazel for 70 years? Will finding the answers help all the women recover what’s been lost? Each woman must contend with the healing presence only God can offer to restore deeply wounded relationships.

“I hope readers will come away with a fresh realization it is never too late to restore broken relationships,” Sawyer explains. “God is in the mending business! He’s the Great Healer. Whether the scars are emotional or spiritual, He wants us to be whole so we can trust Him to bring us to healing when we place ourselves in His hands and let Him lead.”

Sawyer, in her characteristically heartfelt and gentle style, deftly handles the complexity of how past actions influence present circumstances. “Our past does affect our present,” says Sawyer. “[But] God can make beauty out of the ashes of our past when we fully give ourselves to Him.”

“Bringing Maggie Home is beautiful, deep and engaging! Don’t miss out on this powerful and emotive story.” ~ Cindy Woodsmall, New York Times best-selling author

“In Bringing Maggie Home, Kim Vogel Sawyer has once again woven a story so rich and unforgettable that it leaves her readers both satisfied and hungering for more. Her storytelling ability invites her readers into each scene. We laugh and cry, squirm and ache with the characters as if they were family members . . . even the absent ones.” ~ Cynthia Ruchti, author of more than 20 books, including A Fragile Hope and As My Parents Age

About the Author

Kim Vogel Sawyer is a highly acclaimed, best-selling author with more than one million books in print, in several different languages. Her titles have earned numerous accolades, including the ACFW Carol Award, the Inspirational Readers Choice Award and the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence.

Sawyer told her kindergarten teacher someday people would check out her books in libraries. That little girl’s dream came true in 2006 with the release of Waiting for Summer’s Return. Since then, Sawyer has watched God expand her dream beyond her childhood imaginings.

Sawyer lives in central Kansas with her retired military husband, Don, where she continues to write gentle stories of hope and redemption. She enjoys spending time with her three daughters and grandchildren.